Derbies, mangoes, and chinamen...oh my!

There are a lot of Chinese guys on Nate's research team up at the school. His major professor is also Chinese, and he has become very good friends with them. He lovingly calls them The Chinamen. Last weekend, Nate and his good buddy Colby (who is also on the research team), decided they needed to introduce The Chinamen to the beauties of Dutch Oven cooking. Colby's family has a beautiful ranch in Idaho, so Friday night we packed up the Chinese and headed to the hills of Mink Creek. They loved crossing the state border, being out in the open land, and definitely loved the fire!
They thought the dutch oven potatoes were delicious, but the bllueberry-peach cobbler was "too sweet" for them. We had so much fun playing catch



and teaching them baseball. It made me feel really American, up in the moutains, dutch oven, playing baseball, it was too fun. We were all laughing so hard, especially the Chinese. They are such happy people, and love to do anything and everything! I loved answering their questions about missionaries and babies, and I loved asking them about their culture and what they enjoy about America. It was a great night, and I'm really glad Nate and Colby have become such good friends with them.

I sure hope Death Valley holds Demolition Derbies. This is one of our favorite summer past times, and we can't pass them up! Last saturday, after the glorious Main Street Sidewalk Sale (another summer fave), we spent our evening with these guys:

It was definitely an entertaining evening. It was certainly a lot more crowded than the Preston derby, and there are more rules in Logan, but we still had a great time. There was even a truck derby! Which just made my day!I've never seen a truck derby, but definitely thought it was a great idea!

According to my favorite webiste, the baby is about the size of a mango this week.


It's so funny to me, I've been calling it Mango all week. The webiste tells me each week what the size of the baby is according to a food. I've been looking forward to this week; it's much more exciting than a yellow onion or sweet potatoe. Yay mango! (PS for any of you confused at this point, please refer to the last post).

Nate is defending his thesis TOMORROW!!!!! The date has kept been moving up and up, but it's official now, and he can't turn back! He's been really rushed, but I know he'll be ready and he'll be great, and then it will all be done and over with!! And I might get a husband again! i'm thrilled to dream of life with NO school. Life is good! Think of us Thursday at 3pm and send us your most positive thoughts!